


Fashionista Disaster

by debwalsh



Series: Bingo-Bingo [6]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dressing Steve Rogers, First Kiss, Happy Steve Bingo, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-09-02 17:26:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16791433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/debwalsh/pseuds/debwalsh
Summary: Bucky's always happy to help Steve dress to look good. Even if it's to date someone else.Really, he is.





	Fashionista Disaster

**Author's Note:**

> My Happy Steve Bingo fill for the Bad Fashion Sense square.

“C’mon, Steve! Let’s see what ya got!” Bucky called from where he was sprawled on the Rogers’s old couch, a piece of furniture he’d worn a groove to cradle his fine ass over the years.

Steve shuffled nervously into the living room, one hand tugging at the neck on his too-large sweater, and the other raking through his messy blond hair, giving it the look of straw after a wind storm.

“Um ...” Bucky commented, at a loss for words at the fashion disaster that was his best friend.

“It’s bad, right? I mean, i know I’m nothing to look at, but -“

“No, no! You look great. Stevie, you’re a total babe. I mean, if I were into guys, that is. It’s just ... you ain’t showin’ off your assets. You’re kinda ... hidin’ ‘em under a tent or somethin’,” Bucky sputtered, waving vaguely at the even vaguer shape of Steve under the baggy sweater that could easily fit two of him. “Where the hell’d you find this thing, anyway?” Bucky asked as he shoved off from the couch to come over to Steve, circling him as he looked critically as his ensemble.

“Was my Dad’s. Thought I might catch some of his magic, you know? Ma always said he was such a charmer, kinda like you. Guess I gotta long way to go before I can fill his shoes, huh?”

“Well, his sweater, anyway, Steve. I mean, your Ma said he was what? 6 foot 6? You hit your growth spurt, you’re golden. But right now, I think maybe dial it back, huh? Let’s go find you somethin’ from your own closet, whaddya say?”

“Yeah, okay,” Steve agreed, shoulders slumped and head bowed as he turned back toward his room.

“Hey, Steve, we’ll figure it out, right? Gotta set you off on your first date looking fine. Better’n fine - she’s gonna love you.”

&&&

“Wow. Seriously?”

“What?”

“Dude, yellow is not your color.”

“It’s like, a luau.”

“No on the yellow. That the only Hawaiian shirt you got?”

“Ma bought me another, but I thought this one was cheerful. Sunny.”

“If your goal is to blind her, then you’re good. But she wont get to really see you if she’s blind, Steve.”

“Maybe that’s the idea. You know - so she doesn’t get disappointed by just me.”

“I dunno how she could be disappointed by just you. Just you is pretty frickin’ great. But y’gotta give her a chance to enjoy the view. C’mon, let’s go check out what else is in your closet.”

&&&

“So yeah, y’gotta help me. I really wanna impress someone.”

“Oh, you met a new girl -“

“A boy, actually. He’s really cute and I totally think he might be interested, and I don’t wanna blow it. I don’t want him to thing I’m lame. So I need your help to you know - reset my image.”

“Um -“

“You knew I was bi, right, Buck?”

“Yeah, sure, you told me before. I just ... I just didn’t realize you’d found someone you liked, is all. I mean, you’ve always gone out with girls before, y’know?”

“Yeah, and we’ve seen how that’s gone. No, I got a good feeling about this, about him. But not if he thinks I’m lame. So I need your help to put together some nice outfits, help me look like I didn’t miss fashion conscious gay gene.”

“Oh, yeah, sure. Let’s see what’s in your closet. And maybe we need to hit the mall.”

“Yeah, sure, great! Hey, I heard the new arcade opened - maybe we could swing by there after we buy me a new wardrobe!”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that.”

&&&

“They look good together. Did you dress him?”

“Geeze, Nat, warn a guy!”

She dropped into the space beside him on the bench and knocked her shoulder against his. “Steve doesn’t have the fashion sense of an armadillo, while you my friend, could be on Queer Eye. Steve looks good today, ergo ...”

“Yeah, I gave him some pointers,” Bucky shrugged, still watching Steve and his new guy making doe eyes at each other. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, much as the sight caused him physical pain.

“Speaking of Queer Eye -“

“Don’t, Nat.”

“You should tell him. You’re his best friend. You should at least tell him the truth because he’s your best friend.”

“What’s the point? He’s found somebody.”

“Because he didn’t know you were available and interested. Honestly, Barnes, why you choose to handicap yourself when he’s a sure thing -“

“He’s not, Nat. If he were interested, I’d’a known -“

“Like he could tell you were interested? Gaydar’s a myth, Barnes. Words. Words need to be spoken. Speak them, get your man. Don’t let him get away, James.”

As Bucky watched Steve lace his fingers with his new boyfriend, he knew he’d already let him go.

&&&

“Geeze, Steve! When was the last time you showered? You stink, pal!”

“I dunno. What day is it? I’ve been trying to avoid counting the days since he broke up with me.”

Bucky sat gingerly on the edge of the bed, grimacing at the view of Steve Rogers sprawled morosely in his bed, wearing a stained and tattered robe over an even worse stained TMNT t-shirt and matching sleep pants. The whole room was in a funk, strange odors wafting from opposing directions, but the worst was Steve himself.

“That was two weeks ago. Are you telling me you haven’t showered in two weeks? What’s you’re Mom say?”

“I won’t let her in.”

“Can’t she smell you?”

“Very funny.”

“Seriously dude, you are rank. Look, we gotta do something before some new life form crawls out of your shorts. Strip out of that shit and go take a shower. I’m torching this place to prevent further contamination.”

“I like my bed.”

“You’ll like it even more once it’s clean. Now go - strip, shower, and then we’re finding you something clean to put on. In the meantime, I’m stripping this bed because I think there’s something buried in it.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“It’s that bad, Steve.”

“Okay, maybe it is that bad. You don’t have to deal with my stank.”

“I’m your best friend, right?” Steve nodded. “Okay then. I’ll fumigate, you irrigate.”

Steve got up, shucked his clothes right in front of Bucky, and dropped a malodorous kiss on the crown of Bucky’s head as he shuffled by on his way to the bathroom

All while Bucky had a silent freak out over suddenly seeing Steve naked (oh my God, he’s beautiful! Smelly but beautiful!) and then the random fact that Steve had kissed him - well, the top of his head, but him. The vicinity of him, anyway.

What the hell?

&&&

“I really appreciate this, Buck.”

“Hey, we were planning to go as a group anyway.”

“But you could’a had any girl you wanted. You didn’t have to go stag with me.”

“Steve it’s our senior prom. I’m not dating anybody, and asking a girl to the prom would’a seemed bigger than it is. Besides, we’ll have fun. Nat, Sam, Clint, you, me. We can heckle the jocks, pretend we’re the cool kids. it’ll be a night to remember.”

“And I will not be dressed like a grandpa,” Steve agreed proudly.

“No, you will not be. Because I am dressing you. Uh, I mean, I’m picking out your outfit. You’ll be dressing yourself. And undressing. Yeah, whatever,” Bucky stammered, turning away quickly to hide the pink flush on his face. “Come on, let’s go find you some stylin’ gear!”

&&&

They arrived at the senior prom in high spirits, laughing, teasing, smiling. There was a sense of excitement, tinged with melancholy that this was the last big social event before graduation. But there was also a sense of accomplishment, of having survived high school, the ups and downs of the past four years, the loves, the losses, the hopes, and the disappointments.

They were all still friends, still able to have a good time together, still able to find common ground despite the way their lives had started to shift into new lanes.

As a group, they found a table, staked it out, and then dispersed onto the dance floor, where proceeded to spend the next couple of hours in a frenzy of movement, of joy to be young and alive.

Steve had stopped to grab a bottled water, and stood off to the side holding the cool bottle against his flushed face. His tie was askew, his shirt was sweaty and wrinkled, untucked on one side, and he’d ditched his jacket almost as soon as they’d arrived. He was enjoying himself, a last blast of high school before the marathon that was graduation and graduation parties until suddenly they were actual graduates unleashed on the world. 

He drank from his bottle and watched his friends flailing around the floor, looking like rag dolls who’d been tossed in the air and now fell every which way toward the ground. Nat looked beautiful in her low-cut bodice and flouncy skirt, surrounded by “her boys” - Sam, Clint, and Bucky. He was grateful to be part of her entourage. He missed being part of a couple, but Scott had been right when he’d broken up with him. He wasn’t 100% invested in the relationship, because his heart really belonged to someone else. And part of Steve thought it might always belong to that someone else. Because it always had.

The song ended and Bucky said something to the others that made them laugh, and then he was trotting over to where Steve stood, his face alight with loose-limbed joy. “Oh God, I’m so thirsty! Toss me one of those, yeah?” he asked, and Steve lobbed a bottle underhand to him.

“Having a good time?” Steve asked, taking a swig from his own bottle to hide the fact that he was mesmerized by the drop of sweat that travelled down Bucky’s forehead to his temple, down his cheekbone, and along his jaw to disappear into his collar. He held back the urge to follow it with his tongue, instead try to wrench his attention back to what Bucky was saying.

“ ... a threesome, I swear to God. They’re like a polyamorous triad or something.”

“Huh?”

“Nat. Sam. Clint. They’re together. Like all three of ‘em. Sam booked them a room at the hotel. So I guess it’s just you and me going home alone tonight.”

“Well,we got each other,” Steve shrugged, wishing it were true.

“Yeah, I guess. Hey, your tie’s all messed up, C’mere, and I’ll fix it,” Buck waved Steve closer, nudged Steve’s chin up so he could fiddle with Steve’s collar to get to his tie. He tugged him a little closer so he could focus on the tie, and Steve went willingly. He always went willingly wherever Bucky led. He always would.

They stood so close Steve could feel the heat coming off Bucky’s body. They’d been this close before, they’d been doing sleepovers for years. Even now, in their late teens, they’d sleep over at each other’s houses, tumbled into the same bed where they’d wake up tangled with each other. But somehow, it had never felt like this.

The energy in the room. The music. The nearness of Bucky. The sight of his lower lip caught in his teeth as he worked on the damned tie ... later, Steve wouldn’t be able to tell what motivated him, what finally caused him to act, to risk it all, but ...

Steve leaned forward just enough to press his lips against Bucky’s.

Bucky froze. Like, literally froze, his hands on Steve’s tie suddenly held poised, unmoving. His eyes flicked up to Steve’s, his eyebrows shooting up questioningly. His face looked so open, so vulnerable. So frightened.

Steve sighed, then a small smile lit his face.

“I love you, Bucky Barnes.”

Gray-blue eyes widened in wonder, and a smile bloomed across his face, lighting his eyes from within. Steve felt his heart stutter, stop, then seemingly restart with a radiating warmth ad joy that made him feel like he’d been reborn.

“I love you, Steve Rogers,” Bucky breathed back. 

And then they were kissing. And neither of them noticed their friends cheering and clapping, or Nat’s emphatic, “Finally!”

END

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> One more to go .. and then I'm back to WIPs and more bingos and challenges!
> 
> Thanks for your kudos, comments, and bookmarks!


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